Aidan Williams

1. When do you leave?
   January 2003

2. How long do you plan to be away?
   1-6 Months

3. How much have you saved?
   £5000

4. How old are you?
   28

5. Nationality
   England

6. Where do you live now?
   Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK

7. Occupation
   Programmer

8. Is this job one that you actually like, or are you only doing it to pay for the trip?
   One more paycheck and I'm gone

9. Have you traveled around the world before?
   No

10. What is the route you plan to take/places you plan to visit?
    Fly London - Bangkok, then overland from there to Singapore. Fly Singapore - Melbourne, overland from there to Alice Springs. Fly Alice Springs - Cairns and make my way down to Sydney. Fly Sydney - Auckland, tour around New Zealand or possibly go to one of the Pacific Islands briefly. Fly Auckland - Santiago and travel from there into Peru. Fly home from Lima.

11. Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
    The fact that I never did this kind of thing after/during my time as a student, and that I may not get the chance again if commitments come along. Once the idea was in my head, I knew I'd end up regretting it if I didn't do it!

12. What is your biggest fear about this trip?
    The fact that I am giving up a job (albeit one I don't like) and not having a job to come back to afterwards.

13. Are your family, friends, co-workers, etc., supportive of you? What is their opinion of your going around the world?
    Mostly very supportive. Some think its an odd thing to do on your own, but mostly they just say that they wouldn't/couldn't do it themselves, but are supportive of me doing it. Mum thinks I should do it if its what I want to do, and both my sisters think it's an excellent idea.

14. How much planning and preparing have you done?
    Just Enough

15. What are you packing? What do you consider your most indispensable item(s)?
    As little as possible hopefully. Being in the southern hemisphere in their summertime should mean that I can get away with less clothes, although I may need to buy some warmer things when I reach the Andes! My most indispensable item will be my clippers to keep my hair sufficiently short, or to be more precise, almost non-existent.

16. How do you think your round-the-world trip will change your life? How do you think it will affect and change you as a person?
    I am hoping that it will change me for the better. I hope that it will give me many new friends from all over, and that it will teach me a fair bit about other people, and also about my own abilities to cope with such a trip. I'm hoping that it will give me a better perspective on things, ie, my first step is giving up a job I really don't enjoy, then going off and doing something I really want to do. If it gives me more conviction to do the stuff I want to make me happier, then it'll all have been good!

17. If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    Scared, nervous and excited.

18. Why do you think people should go on round-the-world trips? Why not just take a regular old one- or two-week vacation instead?
    For the adventure, and hopefully to realise that you're capable of more adventurous stuff than you may have thought, although it certainly wouldn't suit everybody.

19. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    That you'll be completely on your own all the time (at least I'm hoping that this is a myth).

20. Why do you like to travel?
    It beats the hell out of staying at home. Also I have always enjoyed going to new places and seeing new things.

21. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
    If it's something that you really want to do, then just do it... worry about what happens afterwards when the time comes.